Mechanical egg washer with rotating disks



Sept. 4, 1951 F. a. WRIGHT MECHANICAL EGG WASHER WITH ROTATING DISKS 3 Shoots-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 5, 1947 N lNvENTdR 42255?- 8. lVmw/T.

ATTORNEY Sept. 4, 1951 F. B. WRIGHT.

MECHANICAL EGG msmz um: aomwmc msxs 3 SheetneSheet 2:

Filed Feb. 3. 1947 INVENTOR fageesr 6. 1%? BY ATTORNEY Sept. 4,1951 F. B. WRIGHT MECHANICAL EGG WASHER WITH ROTATING DISKS 3 sheets sheet 3 Filed Feb. 5, 1947 INVENTOR IH'I ATTORN EY Patented Sept. 4, 1951 MECHANICAL EGG WASHER WITH ROTATING DISKS Forrest B. Wright, Ithaca, n. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Research Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 3, 1947, Serial No. 726,188

2 Claims.

Eggs as collected from the nests are often dirty and require some form of cleaning before they are suitable for grading and marketing. The common method of cleaning is by hand, using some form of brush or cloth and a pail of water. This procedure is both arduous and unsanitary; the water frequently becomes dirty, and in such cases the washing may be detrimental rather than beneficial to the keeping qualities of the egg. The principal object of the present invention is to relieve the farmer of this tiresome chore, and at the same time assure an eflicient cleaning under more sanitary conditions, with fresh water and continuously cleaned scrubbers. Tests have shown that proper washing does not impair the keeping qualities of eggs, and of course removes dirt and definitely unsanitary matter which otherwise might adhere.

Further objects of the present invention are to produce an automatic machine for feeding, turning and scrubbing the eggs; for protecting them from breakage; for preventing accumulations of dirt in any part of the machine or process; for guiding the eggs in and out of the mechanism; and for protecting the operator, and allowing him to serve more than one machine if desired. Additional purposes are to reduce the cost and complexity of scrubbing machines, whether used for eggs or other objects of a rotatable nature. More detailed features will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Referring now to the drawings forming part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the machine with the hood open and some of the parts broken away to better show the conveyor mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the machine shown in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow marked Fig. 2 in Fig. 1, some of the parts being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the machine with parts broken away.

Fig. 4 is an end view looking from the left as viewed in Fig. 3. I

Fig. 5 is an end view looking from the right as viewed in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the cleaning disks, shaft and spacers as they appear in their stationary or non-operating condition; when operating, the cleaning disks assume a more straight radial form as in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a detail view taken approximately on the line 'l'! of Fig. 1 showing the delivery mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the right hand side of Fig. 2 showing the cone structure.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts thruout the various views.

Referring now to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the principal cleaning elements of the machine consist in a series of rotatable flexible disks l0 mounted on a shaft ll between spacing collars l2. These disks l0 are suiiiciently flexible to permit an egg to pass thrutheir peripheral portion without breaking, and may be made of fabric, plastic, rubber or other suitable material impregnated with abrasive particles so as to form a good scrubbing surface. When the machine is at rest the disks I. fall into various positions as shown in Fig. 6, but straighten out approximately as shown in the other views due to centrifugal force when the shaft H is rotating. The disks III are kept wet and clean while running by water from the reservoir ll passing thru the thru numerous orifices to fall upon the whirling disks. The water and dirt thrown oil by the disks It falls into-a pan I! under the machine and drains out thru the pipe I! as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.

The eggs 20 to be cleaned are conveyed thru the yielding disks It by means of a belt 2| having fingers or nipples 22 attached thereto, these being of rubber or similar soft material which will not crack the eggs as they roll quite vigorously against them. The eggs 2!! may be fed on to the belt 2| by an intermittent gate as is common in egg graders, or from another belt if it is a large handling plant; but where the return run of the belt is not used for any other purpose it affords a convenient place for laying in the eggs by hand to start them thru the process. This is shown at the bottom of the plan view of Fig. l where the belt 2| is travelling to the right. Some of the spray thrown off by the whirling disks II here wets the eggs and prepares them for the cleaning operation. The travel of the belt 2| is sufficiently slow so that an operator can ,fill'one belt and then turn and fill another belt on an adjacent macnine while the first is going thru. One operator can thus serve more than one machine if desired.

The belt 2| is preferably of the V type and runs between the pulleys 23 and 24 mounted on the shafts 25 and 28 respectively. Power to drive the machine may be supplied from any suitable source such as the motor 21 thru the belt 28 and wheel 29 which turns the shaft 30, from which another belt 3| turns the shaft l I on which the cleaningdisks III are mounted. The other end of the shaft H projects beyond the frame 23 and thru the spiral gearing 34 serves to turn the vertical shaft 2! on which the pulley 22 is pipe l5 and emerging 3 mounted to drive the belt 2|. The belt 2i drives the other pulley 24 mounted on the shaft 28 at the other end of the frame 33.

The eggs 20 placed on the belt 2| between the fingers 22 are first carried to the right as shown in Fig. 1 and then around the pulley 24 which is provided with a conical hub 24 and a curved trough extending around the outside to guide them. This curved trough 36 is at the right in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 and is shown on a larger scale in Fig. 8. After passing around this trough the eggs start back thru the disks ID for the cleaning process, moving from right to left in Fig. 1. The eggs here come into direct contact with the cleaning disks l0, which must bend and yield to allow the eggs to pass thru; and as the disks are wet and whirling they toss the eggs about in various positions and scrub them thoroughly. The rotation of the disks I is such that the e gs tend to be thrown to the back, that is, to the upper side in the plan view of Fig. 1, and it was found that with an ordinary wall they tended to -jump out of the machine, or to roll so high that they would crack. To prevent this, and also to .assist in turning the eggs around in various posi- .Whatever the means used to drive the rollers 43 and Ii, it is important that they turn in the same direction, that is, both downward on the sides in contact with the eggs. To watch-the eggs turning and tossing as they progress thru the series of cleaning disks one would expect them to crack; but extensive tests have shown such fears to be unfoundedin fact originally cracked eggs have passed thru the machine without being broken.

, After the eggs have passed thru all the cleaning disks I0 and have arrived at the left hand bend of they belt in Fig. 1, they are nudged oflf by a deflector -43 and rolldown the trough 45 for the succeeding operations, such as drying, grading or packing. They may of course feed directly into another machine where a machine process is involved. The deflector 43 is a bent piece of metal shown at the left in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, at the right in Fig. 3, also in Fig. 5 and on a larger scale in Fig. 7. To shield the operator from the spray thrown off by the rotating disks [0 a cover 41 is provided, hinged at the back 48 and provided with a handle 49. This cover 41 is preferably of a transparent material such as glass or plastic, so that the operation can at all times be observed, and it terminates at the front above the level where the eggs are placed on the belt by the operator, so as not to interfere with the operation of the machine. a

In the drawings only a few eggs have been shown so as not to obscure the elements of the mechanism, but it will be understood that in actual. operation the belt is usually full of eggs so that a large number can be undergoing the scrubbing operation at the same time. This permits delivery of the washed eggs at a rapid rate.

While I have in the foregoing described certain specific forms by way of example, it will be understood that they are merely for purposes of illustration to make clear the principles of the invention, which is not limited to the particular forms shown, but is susceptible to various modifications and adaptations in different installations as will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as stated in the following claims:

I claim:

1. In an egg washer, the combination of a rotating shaft, a series of flexible scrubbing disks widely spaced alongsaid shaft, the spacing being many times more than the thickness of the disk so that their outer zones are loose and free to yield radially and laterally so that an egg can move along thru the entire series of scrubbing disks without breaking, a water supply system for pouring water on the scrubbing disks and eggs to keep the disks clean and wash the eggs, a conveyor for forcing the eggs thru said series of disks from one end to the other, a rotatable backing rail whose axis of rotation is above the center of gravity of the e g, said conveyor and rail being sufliciently close to the scrubbing disks to force the bulk of the egg up in between adjacent loose disks so that its sides may be scrubbed with wateras it passes thru the series of disks and the egg scrubbed by first one side and then the other side of the loose disks. 2. In an egg washer, the combination of a rotating shaft, a series of flexible scrubbing disks widely spaced along said shaft, the spacing being many times more than the thickness of the disk so that their outer zones are loose and free to yield radially and laterally so that an egg can move along thru the entire series of scrubbing disks without breaking, a water supply system for pouring water on the scrubbing disks and eggs to keep the disks clean and wash the eggs, 9. conveyor for forcing the eggs thru said series of disks from one end to the other, a roller shaft in normal contact with the egg and below its center of gravity, a rotatable backing rail above the roller shaft, the axis of rotation of said backing rail being above the center of gravity of the eg said conveyor, roller shaft and back \g rail being sufliciently close to the scrubbing disks to force the bulk of the egg up in between adjacent loose disks so that its sides may be scrubbed with water as it passes thru the series of disks and the egg scrubbedby first one side and then the other side of the loose disks.

FORREST B. WRIGHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

